Meet modu, officially named the world’s lightest mobile phone by the keepers of all those sane and, not-so-sane, achievements, the Guinness Book Of Records.

According to the Book: “The lightest mobile phone is the modu, which weighs 40.1 g (1.41 oz). modu’s dimensions are 72.1mm (2.8in) x 37.6mm (1.4in) x 7.8mm (0.3in).”

Built by Modu Mobile, an Israeli firm, the phone can be used as a standalone device or slotted into other devices, like a laptop - theoretically. The phone also sports a wide array of ‘jackets’ for customisation.

modu was officially unveiled in Barcelona in February at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), and won a lot of hearts over with its minuscule dimensions and ease-of-use.

The product is also set for a brighter future than many other ‘cute-but-doomed’ gadgets since the company announced yesterday that it has secured $100 million in venture capital funding.-Martin Lynch

[Modu Mobile]

phone mobile phone style

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US company, Super Talent, has launched what it’s claiming is the world’s thinnest 256GB solid state drive (SSD).

The snappily named FSD56GC25H uses an industry standard 2.5in hard drive form factor and a SATA-I interface, making it fully interchangeable with regular 2.5in SATA hard drives. The drive uses the company’s own stacking technology to fit the 256GB in a slim case measuring just 12.5mm thick – 40% thinner than rival 256GB SSDs, the company claimed.

The black case is made from a durable lightweight aluminium alloy and the drive supports blistering fast 0.1ms access times, a maximum of 65MB/sec sequential read speed and 50MB/sec sequential write speed. It can take a beating too, the company said, and is built to deal with up to 1600G of shock and 16G of vibration – around 5 times greater than typical hard drives.

“We designed this drive for applications that need rugged and reliable storage in a very compact form factor. This is the world’s smallest and thinnest 256GB SSD”, said Super Talent Marketing Director, Joe James.

Sadly, the drives are only available to OEMs so far and there’s no price. Not cheap would be a safe guess though.-Martin Lynch

[Super Talent]

storage memory SSD

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Another day, another game furore. This time though it’s not about splitting heads open with an axe but becoming the best bimbo you can be, girlfriend.

The online game is a virtual fashion world that allows those that register – mostly young girls – the chance to create their own highly customised character, starting off with a bimbo in underwear.

OK, you might think it’s a bit tame for all the stink it’s raising but players are allowed to use boob jobs, facelifts and diet pills to customise their bimbos. Since the people that play it are mainly 9-16-year olds, you can see why there’s a bit of gasping going on.

In France there were 1.2 million virtual bimbos last year and already around 200,000 in the UK. You might think the French would be blasé about it all but there has been an massive outcry, mirrored by some groups in the UK and even as far away as New Zealand.

Is it any worse than boy’s games that encourage shooting, killing and blowing stuff up? You tell me.-Martin Lynch

[Miss Bimbo]

games online

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We’re fans of Fatman’s valve-based iTube docks here at Gizmodo and now there’s another one coming for those that don’t mind splashing out that little bit extra on their audio kit.

Sitting between the great iTube dock and the iTube Mothership is the new iTube 452, described as a “fully integrated push-pull amplifier featuring no less than 9 valves and four line input stages to offer 40 watts per channel of supreme audio performance”. Here’s the full specs:

Source Inputs: 4
Max Output Power: 45W x 2 (Self Bias)
Frequency Response: 20-20KHz (±1.0dB)
Distortion: ? 1%
Signal to Noise Ratio: ? 86dB
Input Sensitivity: 210m V
Input Impedance: 100K ohm
Output Impedance: 4 ohm/8 ohm
Size (LxWxH): 420mm x 265mm x 154mm
Weight: 23.00KGs
Tubes used: 6L6G x 4,12AX7 x 5

Like many decent valve-based systems, the sound from the iTube 452 should be warm and full and, as long as you have around £1,500 next month, it can be yours. It comes with an iTube dock thrown in.-Martin Lynch

[Fatman]

hi-fi music ipod audio

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Those wacky Japanese. Robots are becoming more common in everyday life in the Land of the Rising Sun but now they’ve created a robot to baby-sit your kids while you shop.

Aeon, a major retailer in the city of Fukuoka, has brought in a 1.4m tall yellow and white robot, developed by Tmusk, to keep the rugrats happy while the parents spend their money without all the usual coat-pulling and tantrums.

Parents wanting offload their kids get a special badge from the store which the robot can use to identify the kids via a barcode. It can even talk to the kids but the vocabulary is limited. One of its eyes is a projector for firing ad messages onto walls, or images it has captured from the camera that acts as its other eye.

Unless he can fire Pixar movies on the shop walls, dish out free Coke & Snickers and tell dirty jokes, this lump of tin wouldn’t last 10 minutes with the cherubs in my local shopping centre.-Martin Lynch

[Montreal Gazette]

robot robots technology

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Filed under: Gadgets

There are a lot of automotive wristwatches out there. In fact, we had a really tough time picking only our ten favorites back in December ‘06. But once in a while, a new one comes along that makes us stop and take notice. This is one such timepiece.

The Hamilton U.S. 66 Power Reserve has a striking and unusual design clearly aimed at automotive enthusiasts. Take the case, which almost seems to be shaped like a speedway. The dial looks like a tachometer (if not so overtly as the special Alfa Romeo watch we showed you previously) with a center that looks like a mesh grille giving a peek at the ETA caliber 2897 automatic movement inside. Meanwhile, the strap reminds us of a grooved racing tire, with carbon fiber running down the center. Connoisseurs will also notice unique touches like the five-minute markers instead of the conventional hours and both the crown and the date window placed at 12 o’clock instead of at 3.

Although Hamilton was founded - and is still known - as an American watchmaker, its products are actually made in Switzerland. The U.S. 66 Power Reserve is ostensibly named for the famous desert highway as well, and features a power reserve window and sapphire crystal front and back. Only 2008 pieces will be made at an undisclosed price, and we want one. Bad.

[Source: TimeZone via acquire]

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Filed under: Car Buying, Trends, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Toyota, Lifestyle

Automakers work very hard at the branding process, which takes years and years of effort to achieve. For instance, when a consumer hears Porsche, he or she likely sthink of sports cars and iconic design principles — despite the fact that the German brand sells plenty of SUVs, too. And when a brand starts to get a negative image, it can take years to overcome that bad stigma — just ask Ford. So, with all of this in mind, Kelley Blue Book has announced the winners of its 2008 Brand Image Awards, which are based on consumer perception studies of which KBB keeps track.

The big winners this year are Toyota for “Best Overall Interior Design”, BMW for “Best Overall Exterior Design” and Mercedes-Benz for “Best Overall Prestige Brand”. We would have expected Audi to do well in the interior design category, but these awards are not based on reality, but perception instead. For a complete run-down of the awards, we’ve included the press release after the break.

[Source: Kelley Blue Book]

Continue reading Kelley Blue Book hands out 2008 Brand Image Awards

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Filed under: Etc., Safety, Driving

Crash safety ratings are a big selling point - who’s going to buy a car with just two stars? In pursuit of salable collision performance, automakers have turned to stronger metals and better construction, and consumers can reap the benefit by choosing from a panoply of highly rated vehicles. A problem arises, however, if that safety design is ever called upon to perform. Lots of vehicles now sport high strength steel in critical areas like roof pillars, and while it certainly helps protect occupants, it could hinder rescue crews. Tools that once made quick work of crashed vehicles are now having trouble shearing through modern cars. Not only that, modern cars have lots of airbags around the cabin, and there are also worries about cutting high-voltage electrical cabling in hybrid or electric vehicles. Rescuers need to know where all the potentially hazardous equipment lies within a vehicle so that they can safely retrieve human cargo without creating a further tragedy.

What was once a simple matter of cutting a roof off to get passengers out can now become a sawblade-eating saga that takes double or triple the time. Taking more time at an accident scene has repercussions that put recovery or even survival at risk by delaying treatment. Automakers are aware of this, and they’re working with public safety entities to provide training and information. Schematics and build details of vehicles are being made available to first responders by the non-profit group COMCARE Emergency Response Alliance. The ability to research where and how a car should be taken apart in an emergency could buy injured people critical minutes, so Ford, for instance, is asking for a dialogue with rescue crews and the makers of their tools by offering a look at the construction of the 2009 F-150. Upgrades to rescue tools are also necessary, but the flip side of the harder rescue is that the death rate from passenger car accidents is historically low. So buy that five-star vehicle and try not to hit anything. Thanks for the tip, Juan!

[Source: Houston Chronicle]

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Filed under: Tuners, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Hyundai, Celebrities

Click above for full high-res gallery of the 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe

According to Inside Line, movie-goers should expect to see more tire-burning action from Hyundai’s new Genesis Coupe than what’s already been shown. It seems that the Korean car company has already sent Universal a bright red Genesis Coupe SE powered by the turbocharged four-cylinder engine. This news lends some credence to our opinion that the turbo mill will likely be the tuner’s choice, though the big six cylinder is likely to be plenty for most drivers who don’t want to modify their car. While we’re not waiting on the edge of our seats for the fourth installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise, we think that it’ll be pretty cool to see the Genesis Coupe alongside such performance-car stalwarts as the new Nissan GT-R and Subaru STI.

[Source: Inside Line]

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Filed under: Car Buying, SUVs, Japan, Infiniti

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Infiniti FX

It is official. The all-new 2009 FX50 will not share the showroom floor with a rumored “FX37.” Instead, Infiniti has chosen to keep the less-powerful sibling designated as the “FX35.” That means the engine is the award-winning VQ35HR right out of the Infiniti G35 sedan — not the sweet 3.7-liter 330-hp gem from the G37 Coupe. Under the hood of the FX, the slightly smaller six-cylinder is rated at 303 hp (down just a few horses from the sedan’s rating of 306 hp). The 3.5-liter 24-valve DOHC V6 will be mated to a standard 7-speed automatic with Nissan’s Adaptive Shift Control (those trick magnesium paddle shifters are optional).

Like the outgoing FX35 it replaces, the 2009 model will be available in two versions: FX35 and FX35 AWD. The all-wheel-drive model is equipped with Nissan’s ATTESA E-TS (Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All Electronic Torque Split) AWD system, which is standard on the FX50. According to Infiniti, the new 2009 FX goes on sale at Infiniti dealers in the United States and Canada beginning in June 2008. Thanks for the heads-up Brad!

[Source: Nissan North America]

Continue reading Infiniti announces the FX35… still not the FX37

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